Events

Holiday Social and Great Moments in Genealogy

9:00 - 11:30 a.m.

Online - Register

Holiday Social 9:00 - 9:45 a.m.

BIFHSGO Board members will host rooms to talk about different aspects of the holiday season:

Holiday Food Traditions (Duncan Monkhouse)
Holiday Music (Barbara Tose)
Family History in objects (Gillian Leitch)
Fill a Christmas Stocking for a Genealogist (Ann Burns)
Family Historians Holiday Scavenger Hunt (Marianne Rasmus)
Holiday Traditions (Lynne Baxter)
Holiday memories (Ken McKinlay)
General Chat (Sue Dawes)

Great Moments

Light-bulb moments in their family history research by BIFHSGO members.  

Solving a 100-year old mystery using DNA

The identity of Jennifer Hill’s paternal grandfather was a family mystery so she decided to use her DNA results to try and find out who he was. Jennifer will talk about the steps she took to solve the mystery in the 100th anniversary year of her father’s birth.

Jennifer Hill was born in Montreal and has English, Irish and Scottish ancestry. In the early to mid-2000s, she picked up the family tree that her brother built and began to develop it further using genetic genealogy. Jennifer has served on BIFSHGO's Conference Planning Committee and is currently serving on the board as Treasurer.

Finding a Great-Grandfather: A Story of Mistakes and Omissions

One of Mary-Lou’s great-grandfathers immigrated to Canada from England sometime between 1871 and 1881, the last of her ancestors to arrive in Canada. So, finding him in passenger lists and other records should have been relatively easy, right? Not so fast! Mary-Lou will describe the mistakes, omissions and oversights by various parties along the way, and the lucky event that led to her finally discovering the circumstances of his arrival in Canada.

Mary-Lou Simac has been researching her family history for about ten years. She is a retired federal public servant who worked for Canadian Heritage and Innovation, Science & Economic Development Canada. She is a graduate of Boston University’s online Genealogical Research Certificate Program, has completed several family history courses from the University of Strathclyde, and is enrolled in courses offered by the National Institute for Genealogical Studies.  Mary-Lou has served on both the BIFHSGO board and the conference planning committee. She is currently vice-chair of the Irish Palatine Special Interest Group of Ontario Ancestors.

Mine! Mine! Mine!

Following a death, it’s a sad occurrence when family members fight over the estate. For a family historian, the legal wranglings provide a goldmine of information about family members and often the wider community. Dianne Brydon will tell us about the litigious Guild family in 1795 Tranent Scotland, who challenged their youngest brother’s inheritance, using testimony from business partners and neighbours, anonymous letters, and cooked books.

Dianne Brydon has been researching the Guild family for 4 years, whenever she can get to Scotland, where she has sneezed through many dusty bundles of legal documents to piece together their colourful story.  With her father, in 2017 Dianne published their family history The Stalwart Brydons: From Scotland to Galt to Portage La Prairie.  She has written two articles for BIFHSGO’s Anglo-Celtic Roots, most recently “Who’s Crazy?” The Tale of Mary Brydon and Mental Health in 19th Century Ontario, which also won Honourable Mention in BIFHSGO’s 25th Anniversary writing competition. Her talk A Genteel Woman in Need:  The Story of Maud Lampman, the First Woman Appointed to Work on Parliament Hill won best BIFHSGO Feature Talk in 2020.  She was BIFHSGO’s Program Director from 2019 to 2021 and currently sits on the board as a Director-at-large.

Kirk Session Records for Family Historians (Education Talk)

8 January 2022 / 9 a.m

Online - Register

The Kirk Sessions of the Established Church of Scotland were responsible for the administration of their parish; they looked after the welfare of their parishioners as well as their discipline—in both spiritual and moral matters. The members of the Session—the minister and the elders—met regularly and their deliberations were recorded, often in great detail. So, whether your ancestor was a clergyman, a church elder, a poor man or woman seeking financial assistance or a woman with an illegitimate child there is a chance they will appear in the minutes and these can often provide information on ancestors that cannot be found anywhere else.

Kate Keter BSc MSc QG  has been researching family trees for over 30 years. What started as a hobby, soon became an obsession and ultimately led her to complete an MSc in Genealogical, Palaeographic and Heraldic Studies from the University of Strathclyde in 2016. Since then, she has worked as a professional genealogist based in Linlithgow, a small town to the west of Edinburgh, and is also a tutor on the Post-Graduate Genealogy and the Family History short courses at Strathclyde University. She is a member of the Register of Qualified Genealogists (RQG) and the Association of Scottish Genealogists and Researchers in Archives (ASGRA).

Branching Out (Feature Talk)

8 January 2022 / 10 a.m

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We often focus our research on what we believe to be the “key” people in our direct line of ancestors; those who have a “story to tell,” or who take our research back even further. As a result, we can miss out on some fascinating information about our extended family. This talk will look at members of one family whose histories were overlooked in the initial research. Their stories add depth and breadth to our understanding of this family and its history, of the wider context in which they lived and of their impact, if any, on society at the time.

Kate Keter BSc MSc QG  has been researching family trees for over 30 years. What started as a hobby, soon became an obsession and ultimately led her to complete an MSc in Genealogical, Palaeographic and Heraldic Studies from the University of Strathclyde in 2016. Since then, she has worked as a professional genealogist based in Linlithgow, a small town to the west of Edinburgh, and is also a tutor on the Post-Graduate Genealogy and the Family History short courses at Strathclyde University. She is a member of the Register of Qualified Genealogists (RQG) and the Association of Scottish Genealogists and Researchers in Archives (ASGRA).

Introduction to Welsh Resources

12 February 2022 / 9:00 a.m.

Presenter: David Jeanes

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The twelve historical counties of Wales, plus Monmouthshire, were treated as part of England for resources such as civil registration. However, there are some important differences. These include the extensive use of patronymics rather than family names and the use of the Welsh language, particularly for house names. Very common surnames, such as Jones, also present difficulties. County record offices still relate to the historical, rather than the modern counties, and there are many important records held in the National Library of Wales at Aberystwyth.A number of useful books on Welsh research have also been published.


David Jeanes is a retired professional engineer and has been a BIFHSGO member since its founding. He has given a number of BIFHSGO talks and great moments and helped with the running of the recent online conference. His family comes from South Wales, with roots in Pembrokeshire, Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, but some of the family were economic migrants into Wales in the 1850s. In the early years of his research, he visited many county record offices, churches, and libraries in Wales and corresponded with numerous contacts. Today most research can be done effectively online with important new resources.

I600 years of stories from St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle 

12 February 2022 / 10:00 a.m.

Presenter: Kristen Mercier  

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For over six centuries, the archives of St George’s Chapel have been kept in the Lower Ward of Windsor Castle. These Archives belong to one of England’s few remaining royal peculiars and, along with its rare book library, offer an account of the history of property ownership by the church and the land’s occupants across England and Wales, tell about the Chapel's royal connections and present to researchers stories of those who lived and worked on the site. Looking through the Chapel’s history and records, Kristen Mercier will demonstrate how to best access records from the medieval to modern periods, and walk you through the history of record keeping itself in over half a millennium at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

Kristen Mercier is the current archivist for the Arnprior & McNab Braeside Archives since June 2021 and, prior to this, worked in England as the Assistant Archivist for St George's Chapel Archives & Chapter Library, Windsor Castle. Kristen obtained a qualifying master's degree in archiving from the University of Glasgow and also holds a second master's degree in Medieval Norse Studies from a joint degree program between the University of Iceland and the University of Oslo. She obtained her Bachelor’s in history and languages from Queen's University, Canada.  

The Irish Palatines in Ireland and Canada

12 March 2022

Online - Registration required

The Irish Palatines have a unique heritage, one that continues to live on in descendants both in Ireland and in Canada.  This illustrated presentation will give an overview of their story, look at aspects of their identity from 1709 up to the present time, and identify key sources for finding Irish Palatine ancestors.

Carolyn Heald has been researching Irish Palatine history and genealogy for more than three decades. The second, revised edition of her book, The Irish Palatines in Ontario:  Religion, Ethnicity, and Rural Migration, was published in 2009 by Global Heritage Press.  She also co-edits the Irish Palatine Association Journal which is published in Ireland and is a Director of the OGS’s Irish Palatine Special Interest Group.

Annual General

11 June 2022 / 9 a.m.